You’ve got a big wedding in two weeks and your little black dress makes you look like a big, fat blob. Don’t panic. A new diet plan will help you slip into that sexy little number – and shine in your life…

When most people think of dieting, images of teeny, tiny portions and countless hours at the gym come to mind. They envision themselves sweaty and starving, forced to say farewell to everything enjoyable in life. After all, dieting and deprivation go hand in hand, right? Wrong, according to The Skinny (Meredith Books, 2006), a girlfriend’s guide to eating the way you like without gaining weight.

If you live for food, you’ll love The Skinny. That’s a guarantee from authors Melissa Clark and Robin Aronson, two writers whose passion for journalism is exceeded only by their passion for food. Their secret to staying slim is living life on The Skinny. The longtime friends devised their pound-shedding plan after Robin, former editor-in-chief of Parents.com and former managing editor of Cuisinenet.com, gave birth to twins and found herself struggling to take off the baby fat almost a year later.

The turning point came when Robin unsuccessfully tried to squeeze into her favorite little black dress. Dismayed, she vowed to change her weight without sacrificing the foods she loved.

For help, she turned to Melissa, a longtime food writer and author of 18 cookbooks. Though she once battled the bulge, Melissa had managed for years to keep her weight at around 111 pounds. Seeing Melissa stay slim despite a career that required indulging in the finest and most fattening foods, Robin knew her friend was onto something. The two women put their heads together and came up with The Skinny.

“The Skinny evolved because I gained well over 60 pounds when I got pregnant with twins,” Robin tells LifeScript. “I was over 200 pounds. Forty pounds came off after about a year. I was complaining about losing the last 20 pounds to Melissa, who’s a food writer and a size 2. I knew she didn’t deprive herself of food. I was already sleep deprived; I didn’t want to be food deprived, too. It’s really important to eat the foods you love and not feel like anything is off limits. This gives you permission to really enjoy food.”

The Emergency Little Black Dress PlanWhile The Skinny is designed to help you look great for life, Melissa and Robin know that sometimes you need a quick fix for, say, a high school reunion or a wedding where your ex will be the best man. You need to dress to impress! With that in mind, they devised the Emergency Little Black Dress plan to transform you from flab to fab in 14 days.

Here’s a rundown of a day of eating on the emergency plan. All meals are original recipes from The Skinny.

Breakfast: Almond Butter and Strawberry Breakfast Smoothie.

Lunch: Tuna and Cucumber Salad with Olives, a whole grain roll and a pear or other fruit.

Dinner: Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sherried Grapes and Watercress.

Dessert: Ginger-Stewed Rhubarb with a dollop of yogurt, or a cookie.

The Skinny’s food-loving authors are quick to point out that most of your loss will be water weight. But so what? You’ll still look picture perfect for that special occasion.

Here are five of The Skinny’s 10 tips for making a big impact in a small amount of time.

Move It & Lose It: Exercise more. Get your fill of cardio. Walk for 30 minutes every night after dinner. If you already work out three or four times a week, add a couple of extra sessions for good measure.

Limit Your Liquor Intake: Melissa and Robin say life on The Skinny shouldn’t be dry. However, for quick weight loss, cut back on alcohol as much as possible in the coming weeks. If you must have a drink, stick to wine and drink more water. Bypass beer at all costs.

Make Your Food Last: If you’re having a sandwich for lunch, eat only half and have a low-cal soup or salad to fill you up. Save the other half for an afternoon snack or for dinner and enjoy it with a piece of fruit.

Later, Lattes: If you’re a coffee lover, stick to a plain cup o’ Joe with a little skim milk. If you really need an espresso, have an Americano, which is just hot water and espresso.

Have Tea Time: When you’re hungry, enjoy a cup of tea, or snack on some watermelon, an apple or an orange. If you’re craving a specific food, eat two or three bites. If you don’t think you can stop there, don’t risk it at all.

Eat What You Love & Love Your Body

Robin, who’s 5’7” and now weighs 132 pounds, explains that The Skinny’s non-diet formula for black dress success is based on three principles: eating what you want most, eating lots of fruits and vegetables and eating reasonably sized portions. The book is chock full of practical tips and features 75 original recipes created by Melissa.

With decadent dishes such as Curried Vegetable Lentil Soup and Hot Cinnamon-Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Yogurt, following The Skinny is a cinch. Robin admits that she’s managed to shed her extra weight while still enjoying favorites like chocolate chip cookies, bagels and lox, and pizza with eggplant and garlic.

“The first thing is that you don’t take anything out of your diet,” she says. “You eat more fruits and vegetables. This gets you feeling fuller because these foods have more water and more nutrients.”

Robin also recommends that you eat more slowly, paying attention to your appetite. “When you eat slowly, you ask yourself ‘are you enjoying your food?’ If you’ve finished your food before you finish the question, you’ve eaten too fast. Eat slowly and you’ll eat less of everything.

“Next think about how to change your after-dinner snack from four cookies to two cookies. Give yourself a couple of weeks and change your habits slowly. You have to give yourself time,” she says.

What Every Skinny Girl NeedsThe Skinny’s simple blueprint for success includes such chapters as Eat Like A Food Writer, Let’s Do Dinner and What Every Skinny Girl Needs.

The book also offers strategies for specific challenges. If fast food lunches are your downfall, Ladies Who Lunch The Skinny Way comes to the rescue with easy answers like: Make lunch simple. Make lunch flavorful. Resist the urge to eat something just because your coworkers are doing it or because it might counter frustration and boredom in the office.

Fed up with fat-free? The Skinny provides tips on how to mix the whole fat with the fat-free. And unlike many diet book recipes, these recognize that a little fat equals a whole lot of flavor.

“The Skinny recipes all have fruits and vegetables at their center. They have butter and olive oil. Some have bacon. We play with the amounts of fat so they’re all flavorful and easy to make. Melissa had me in mind for all of them. With twins, I can’t be in the kitchen more than half an hour. You get a huge flavor bang for a little bitty buck. All ingredients are accessible, flavorful foods. Protein is more of a garnish. We have wonderful chicken and fish dishes, but fruits, vegetables and produce really stand out. We don’t use any food substitutes.”

A Dress & a Diet for Any OccasionLike the inimitable little black dress, The Skinny’s weight-loss program is suitable for any situation, Robin says.

“Just like the little black dress you can take anywhere, this is the diet you can take anywhere – to holidays, events, restaurants, even your own kitchen. You can eat anywhere on The Skinny and feel like you’re really enjoying your food, just like you can enjoy your black dress,” says Robin.

*Consult with your physician before starting any diet or fitness program.

Are You Sporting the Right Active Wear?Clothes may not always make the woman, but they can certainly make or break the workout. The wrong exercise clothes can actually negatively affect your performance, and keep you from doing your best. And we’re not talking about how many guys will try and pick up on you at the gym. It’s more than just looking good – it’s about feeling comfortable while you exercise. So test your knowledge with this active wear quiz.